No state has been denied money in Union Budget: Sitharaman hits back at Oppn
The finance minister recalled that in the past too, the UPA government also did not mention names of all states in their Budget speech
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday (July 30) termed misleading claims by Opposition leaders that if any state is not named in the Budget speech, then it does not get any budgetary allocation.
Replying to a Budget discussion in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman asserted that no state was being denied money. She recalled that in the past too, the UPA government also did not mention names of all states in their Budget speech.
‘Misleading campaign’
“I have been picking up on Budget speeches since 2004-2005, 2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and so on. The Budget of 2004-2005 did not take the name of 17 states. I would like to ask the members of the UPA government at that time - did money not go to those 17 states? Did they stop it?” Sitharaman said.
“I humbly state that all members know that if a state is not named doesn't mean money does not go to them. It is a misleading campaign. It pains me to know that they could say that if you have not mentioned a state, it gets nothing,” she said.
She was responding to comments by several Opposition members that the Budget has provided funds only to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and nothing to other states.
Counters Opposition
The finance minister also countered charges that social sector and welfare schemes have been neglected by quoting a series of figures. The Opposition parties had alleged that there was nothing for farmers, small traders and MSMEs
“The Budget allocation for the department of agriculture and farmers’ welfare was only ₹21,934 crore in 2013-2014. However, in 2024-2025, it has increased to ₹1.23 lakh crore,” the minister said. Pointing out that it is a five-time increase, she said, “More than ₹3.2 lakh crore have been disbursed to over 11 crore farmers under PM Kisan since its launch.”
Fiscal discipline
Sitharaman said India is the fastest-growing economy globally and has overcome the after-effects of the pandemic due to heavy capex push.
She also said the government is complying with the fiscal deficit trajectory. It will bring down the deficit to below 4.5 per cent by 2025-26 from the targeted 4.9 per cent for the current fiscal. The deficit was 5.6 per cent in 2023-24.
The Budget has provided substantial financial support of Rs 17,000 crore to the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir this year. It includes Rs 12,000 crore towards financing the cost of J&K police. “That's the burden we want to take on our shoulders,” Sitharaman said.
(With agency inputs)
